Directions to Myself

Praise

“Julavits’s writing is a life raft: elegant without sentimentality. . . . Directions to Myself is less a memoir of parenting and more a memoir of developing personhood.”—The New York Times
 
“An achingly rendered experience of parenthood. Rather than simply passing, time escapes from us, along with our children. And it makes its wounds along the way.”—The Washington Post

“All parents worry about what the world might do to their children. Julavits worries about what her child might do to the world. Directions to Myself is at its best when Julavits, as her title suggests, considers how she might grow alongside her child.”—The New Yorker
 
“An open airing of the worries and fears of a woman in the 21st century, an ode to books and streams and rocks and artifacts and to family. But it might be, above all, about nature, human and otherwise.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A journey to self-discovery.”—WBUR Boston
 
“Julavits’ fans will enjoy the insights into her life, child-rearing, and finding direction for one’s self and one’s family.”—Booklist
 
“Directions to Myself sees Julavits studying what she calls ‘the end times of childhood.’ She writes about her son’s upbringing as well as her own to find answers about motherhood, family life, and growing up.”—The Millions
 
“A memoir about navigation in every sense . . . Julavits writes with sparkling insight and stunning clarity.”—Bustle

“An absolute stunner: frank, funny, self-aware, constantly surprising . . . one of the most insightful representations I’ve read of what it feels like to be alive these days . . .”—George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo

“Directions to Myself is the product of an awe-inspiring mind, whose “inner Maine,” captured here, was a place I did not want to leave. The writing is a miracle of precision and spirit, and Heidi Julavits is as darkly funny as John Cheever, my other favorite Yankee subversive.”—Rachel Kushner, author of The Mars Room

“Inside these pages is a sanctuary of unwordable grief, exactly because of its proximity to our purpose and joy, our mothering, our try, our children. We have tried our best. Now, to the world they go.”—Dede Gardner, Oscar winning producer of 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight

“Honest, blazing, and generous, Directions to Myself manages to be an essay about everything by focusing intently on the basic human need of giving care to other people. Truly astounding.”—Catherine Lacey, author of Biography of X

“A touching meditation on time, motherhood, and memory . . . Affecting reflections on life’s transitions.”—Kirkus Reviews

“In this self-aware book, issues of politics and gender thread together with the daily ins and outs of family life.”—TIME